When brand values become bland values
Short Read
If you’re looking to define brand values, Google is not a great place to start.
Scanning sources from across the internet, Google has compiled a list of dull platitudes that would give only the sketchiest of direction to any brand.
Many of the usual suspects are listed: passion, innovation, collaboration. These are words that might sound great when a fired-up CEO uses them in a rallying speech, but feel vacuous when written into a brand guidelines document. They are the strategic equivalent of live, laugh, love; well meaning, hard to disagree with, but deathly dull and slightly cringe.
They’re also irritatingly unspecific. How far do we take passion? Are we just happy with what we do or is our brand built for cray cray zealots? If our brand is grounded in innovation, can we still use the same stock images as everyone else or must we commission artistic photography? In isolation, single words become wildly open to interpretation; just ask thesaurus.com.
Others on Google’s list — honesty, integrity, diversity, integrity, accountability — set off alarm bells for another reason. These should be the minimum basic attributes that define how any business behaves. Being diverse and accountable aren’t brand values, they are simply appropriate ways to conduct business.
If you’re reminding people that your brand needs to behave honestly, perhaps there’s a bigger issue in the business that needs addressing.
I believe there are three things that make brand values resonant and usable:
Firstly, they must feel unique to your organisation. If the same set of values could just as easily be applied to any of your competitors, then they aren’t working hard enough. Every brand has certain fundamental truths; the purpose of a strong brand strategy is to summarise and codify these in ways that give the brand a clear direction.
Which brings me onto the second point: they must be actionable. As mentioned above, bland platitudes are notoriously open to interpretation and therefore difficult to live up to. Values have to give the user a sense of how the brand behaves. ‘Honesty’ is too vague. ‘Unpretentiously straightforward’ defines not only a tone but a direction of how to build a brand; from its voice and messaging through to the style of imagery and even UX.
Thirdly, they should feel aspirational. Too often I’ve read guidelines documents where the brand values appear to be a neat summary of where a brand is, not where it is going. Your values should be a set of principles that are moving your brand forward, not comfy slippers to slip on and forget. Be ambitious, or perhaps even “authentically ambitious”.
If you’re struggling with defining unique brand values, get in touch.
Other insights by Bethan
About Bethan Thomas
Bethan Thomas (she/her) is Client Partnerships Director at Nalla. With a Masters (MSc) in International Marketing and a passion for understanding people, she thrives on bringing new perspectives and insights on different audiences to help her clients solve real business challenges.
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